Catherine Davidson Missing Person Case

Jan 18, 2017

Oct 24, 2019

Catherine

Davidson

58

6

46 inches

70 lbs

Black / African American

Female

On a Labor Day weekend in 1973, six-year-old Catherine "Cathy" Davidson, a young female from Chicago, Illinois, was reported missing. The official account given by her father, Robert Davidson, and stepmother, Anna Young, was that the family had traveled to Warren Dunes State Park in Sawyer, Michigan, for a picnic on September 1, 1973. They stated that soon after arriving, Cathy and her five older siblings went to play near a creek that flowed into Lake Michigan while the adults unpacked the car. A short time later, the other children returned, but Catherine was not with them. At the time of her disappearance, she was described as being 3'10" tall and weighing 70 pounds, with black hair braided in tight rows and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a white blouse, blue shorts, and white sandals. An extensive, multi-day search of the park, including the woods, the creek, and the lake, was launched by the Michigan State Police. The only potential piece of evidence recovered was a pair of green panties, though it was never confirmed if they belonged to Catherine. From the beginning, law enforcement was reportedly skeptical of the parents' demeanor, noting they seemed oddly detached and were seen laughing and drinking with friends just days after their daughter vanished. However, with the other children corroborating their story and a lack of physical evidence, the investigation eventually went cold, leaving Catherine's fate a painful mystery for decades. Decades later, a disturbing new narrative emerged that shattered the original story of a family picnic gone wrong. A younger sister of Catherine's, born after her disappearance, came forward to law enforcement with a chilling account she had heard from another sibling. According to this new information, the trip to Warren Dunes State Park was a fabrication designed to conceal a much darker truth: Catherine had died in the family's Chicago home before the trip ever took place. The sibling alleged that their stepmother, Anna, had bound and gagged Catherine and locked her in a closet. The other children reportedly heard scratching from inside the closet throughout the night until the sounds ceased. When the closet was later opened, Catherine was found unresponsive. This information pointed to a long-held secret within the family and redirected the focus of the investigation to Anna Young, who was later convicted of murdering two other children in connection to a religious cult she had started. Anna Young died in prison in 2021, and with the deaths of other individuals who may have had knowledge of the events, the full truth of what happened to Catherine and the location of her remains are still unknown.

Sep 01, 1973

Sawyer

Michigan

Berrien County

49125

31831

Michigan State Police - Niles Post

Niles

Michigan

Berrien County

49120

Doug Kill

D/Sgt.

1600 Silverbrook Avenue, Michigan

2696834411

State

Law Enforcement

54-1696-73

Michigan State Police - Niles Post

Black

Brown

Brown

No

07/15/2026